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Perogies, Pyrohy, Piroshki, etc., etc. Delicacy of Eastern Europe, particularly of Ukraine. Western Canada is perogy-land, having been settled by a large number of Ukrainians over the last century.

They often make an appearance at old-school buffets, and many community halls hold perogy dinner fundraisers. Many people I know also include them at the Thanksgiving table.

I learned to love perogies when our family moved away from the prairies to the maritimes, and my mom had to make them from scratch. It was a special-occasion meal because it was more labor intensive. When we moved to Alberta when I was a teenager, perogies beam a convenience food, cooked from a bag from the freezer aisle.

It wasn’t until I lived on my own that I tried making perogies from scratch myself, but they’re worth the effort (I say that a lot on this blog!!). This recipe is one loosely based on a recipe from the Vegetarian Times cookbook. It’s also a good recipe to make with friends, as many hands speed the assembly stage. Our friend Matt came over when we last made these, and is the lovely hand model in the photos.

I have had a crazy schedule this semester. Working late hours in the lab, often followed by evening tutoring appointments as undergrads panic over finals. The only thing I really have the time and money to grab on campus for dinner is a burrito at the place across the street. Unfortunately, the cost of this adds up. After buying a few frozen vegan burritos from the grocery store as a cheaper alternative, I realized (duh) that I should just make them myself.

These burritos have way more protein than your usual store-bought vegan option. I paid about $16 for enough ingredients to make 11 burritos. $4 of that was for store-bought vegan cream cheeze, of which I only used a third of a tub, so if you make cheeze yourself or omit it entirely they will be even cheaper.

I now have a healthy option for dinners at work that will fuel me for my bike ride home. They freeze well, and warm up in the microwave fine whether taken straight from the freezer or left to thaw for several hours in a lunch bag.

Make-Ahead Bean Burritos

An original recipe by Agent Minty

Makes 11 burritos

One note: to make a lower-fat option, use oil to steam-fry veggies, and do not add to beans. Do not, however, remove oil when cooking the ground round.

Vegan quiche sounds impossible. What about the eggs, the cheese? In the words of a non-vegan critic, Where does all the flavour come from?

Well, if you can’t make something plant-based and flavourful, you just need to work a little harder. There is some vegan cheeze in here, as this is the second instalmentof recipes that can be made with cheeze, but a lot of the favour also comes from the roasted peppers and seasonings, not to mention a rich pastry crust. At the request of Mme. Minty, I’m not officially calling this a quiche, as “eggs are gross,” so savoury pie it is. A perfectly indulgent dish for wintertime.

Vegan Savoury Pie

An original recipe by Agent Minty

One note about the tart tin: I used a 9-inch quiche/tart tin than separates into two pieces. If you only have a traditional style pie plate, that will work too, as the crust recipe makes more than enough dough.

Growing up, my favourite meal was homemade macaroni and cheese. It had four ingredients: boiled elbow noodles, shredded cheddar, skim milk poured all over everything, and crushed potato chips on top. Talk about simple. And man, what an overload of dairy.

I’ve made a recipe to share with you that has the comfort food spirit of my childhood favourite, but with a little more flavour and zero animal products. Ooey, gooey, creamy, cheezy. This is my first follow up to my Vegan Cheeze post, and uses Daiya shredded Pepperjack and some Kick-Ace cheddar spread. This makes a large batch – be sure to use a very deep 9×9 dish, or a larger casserole dish will also work. It is amazing as leftovers, too.

Amazing Vegan Mac – An original recipe by Agent Minty

Ingredients:

3 cups dried elbow macaroni

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp margarine

2.5 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup plus 2/3 cup almond or other non-dairy milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 cup prepared Kick Ace cheddar

1/3 cup plus 2/3 cup Daiya Pepperjack shreds

1/4 cup parsley flakes

Optional: a handful of rippled potato chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400F and generously spray your casserole dish.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook macaroni until al dente, while preparing the sauce.

Melt the margarine and oil together in a heavy-bottomed pot on medium-low heat.

Whisk in the flour and stir vigorously until it starts to foam and thicken slightly.

Gently sprinkle in a few spoonfuls of the wine and whisk vigorously until combined with the paste.

Drizzle in the remaining wine while whisking vigorously.

Stir in 1 cup of milk while continuing to whisk.

Take the pot off of the heat and whisk in the kick-ace cheddar and 1/3 cup of the daiya shreds.

Return to medium-low heat and stir until cheezes are melted.

Remove from heat and stir in drained, cooked noodles.

Fill casserole dish with alternating layers of 1/3 of cheezy noodles, 1/3 cup reserved daiya, and 1 Tablespoon of parmesan, until all are done.

I’m not a huge lover of mock beef – for me, its only uses are in tacos, lasagna, and as meatballs.

These meatballs, in particular. Soft enough to break with a fork after being soaked in sauce, yet tough enough to not break down in sauce, either. A tasty addition to your favourite spaghetti recipe. This winter, I’m going to try serving them in a sweet-and-sour sauce like my mom did when I was an omnivore kid – I’ll let you know if it works.

The great thing about this recipe is how easy it is. Mix stuff together, bake in oven. You’ll need only about 10 minutes of hands-on time, so it’s perfect if you want something hearty but are feeling lazy, or want something that you can make with your kids. Keep in mind that when I say that you have to bake this for a long time, I really mean it – 40 minutes is needed, even though they’ll look “done” after 20.

Vegan Meatballs – recipe by Agent Minty

Makes approximately 2 dozen 1-inch balls

Ingredients:

1 package (12oz/340g) vegan “ground round” or similar

3 Tbsp red wine

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried sage

2 tsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

7 Tbsp (well packed) gluten powder

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 390F.

Combine all ingredients except gluten powder, and mix well.

Add half of gluten powder, and stir well.

Add last of gluten powder tablespoon by tablespoon, stirring between additions.

After adding last of gluten, knead with hands for about two minutes, until it starts to ball together.

Form into 1-inch balls.

Place balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Spray balls generously with cooking spray (I used an olive-oil baking spray), or brush with oil.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes, shaking sheet halfway through to turn over the meatballs.

Turn off the oven and let meatballs cool inside for at least 10 minutes.Meatballs will have shrunken noticeably by this point!

Store in a sealed container for a few days as is, if desired.

Add to hot spaghetti sauce and simmer for 10 minutes before serving.

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I like to make vegan treats like ice cream, cookies, cupcakes, and pie. Tofu is delicious, too!

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